For the first time, African travelers have liberal access to over half the continent, according to the 2019 Africa Visa Openness Index published by the African Union Commission and the African Development Bank.
The report which was launched on Monday in Johannesburg, South Africa said the progress on visa openness in Africa follows growing momentum for greater integration between countries and signals that policymakers across the continent are pushing reforms, making it easier for African businessmen and women, investors, students and tourists to travel.
This fourth edition of the Index shows that 47 countries improved or maintained their visa openness scores in 2019.
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The Africa Visa Openness Index measures how open African countries are when it comes to visas by looking at what they ask of citizens from other countries in Africa when they travel.
African visitors no longer need a visa to travel to a quarter of other African countries, whereas visa-free travel was only possible to a fifth of the continent in 2016. Currently, 21 African countries also offer eVisas to make travel more accessible, up from 16 in 2018, 13 in 2017, and 9 in 2016.
Here are the top five countries with Africa Visa Openness:
